Once students finish the book, have them pull out the most significant moments that make up Jim the Boy. As they review the book, they'd have to figure out what events in the book change Jim as a boy, and change the way he thinks, and lives. Events like his small town school closing down, Jim going to work for the uncles then quitting, and Meeting Penn Carson, Their first baseball game with the "mountain boys", seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, getting electricity, going to Painters Creek, there are probably others too. Once the students have come in with the scenes they thought were the most significant, and make a list of them in class, ask them why they think these are important scenes. The class will decide upon the 6 or 7 key events of the book, and then could be broken into groups according to the event.
Each student will go home, and go onto Pixton and make their own comic of the event they were assigned. They can either quote the book verbatim or summarize it.They have to make sure to ask themselves questions like, what would Jim be doing, what would the area look like, what would everyone's expressions be. (Also, it can be their own interpretation of what Jim the Boy is, but they have to have reasoning for it. If they want to make it Jim the Boy- the modern edition, that's fine, but it still needs to be well thought out) When the assignment is complete, they can bring in their comics and pair them up with other groups comics, and you'd be left with a type of comic book summary of Jim the Boy.(G. Finnegan)
(Although this is a direct copy of our Book Review)- Have students visit http://www.bookbrowse.com/ or amazon.com and ask them to write their own review using either forum. The assignment of using the web and posting them with other reviews makes it impossible for them to write something that isn't their own words because the reviews are right there. (K. Moran)
2) I think Jim the Boy offers many passages that students could get to know more closely via PhotoStory. I personally believe that "Blackbirds" on page 135 or Ma's letter to Jim's father present a lot of material that students could flesh out with both pictures, music and reading. An assignment would include the following: a) multiple characters reading dialogue (Cissy and Jim in Blackbirds)
b) Two minutes minimum
c) Must include dialogue, music or sound effects, and photos Assessment:
Students and I would discuss what factors should constitute a rubric. I think this would help them in going over their work and not getting carried away with overwhelming their project with unnecessary effects and graphics. They would also be able to work therough a revision process with the rubric in hand. This revision of the project would also help provide an engine for close reading.Creativity would absolutely be required, but only to the point of relevance. In order for students to defend this creativity I wouuld ask for a 2 to 3 page write up of what they did and why they did it. - ((Timothy Palumbo)
FanFiction - Another way of combining technology and Jim the Boy is through via Fanfiction. The most popular site for fanfiction is fanfiction.net. Since the novel is a relatively easy read, with short chapters, students of different learning levels can participate in this interactive writing activity. During class, I would introduce the different genres that can be used when writing a fanfiction piece: Missing scenes, alternate perspective, alternate realities, etc.(the rest of the genres can be found in Unit 2 of Chris Shamburg's text). The introduction of Fanfiction, the genres, and the assignment will take the whole period, but if time is left over, they can begin their assignment during class. The assignment is to write a chapter from Jim the Boy using one of the genres of Fanfiction. This assignment will obviously use more than one class period. The students will be given an ample amount of time to complete the assignment at home. Time will be set aside at the end of class for students to conference about their writing with eachother and myself. I will set up a private Gaggle site for my students (www.gaggle.net), where students can post their writing WHILE they are still in the writing process. This site allows for students and myself to comment on each other's writing - adding suggestings and encouraging comments. When the assignment is due, their final product will be posted on our Jim the Boy site. If some students choose to do so, they can post their additions to Jim the Boy on a public Fanfiction site such as fanfiction.net for others outside the class to view. My assessment will come from the progress I see the students make to their writing on the site, their comments and suggestions to other students work, and from their final product. - Tricia Vessa
Each student will go home, and go onto Pixton and make their own comic of the event they were assigned. They can either quote the book verbatim or summarize it.They have to make sure to ask themselves questions like, what would Jim be doing, what would the area look like, what would everyone's expressions be. (Also, it can be their own interpretation of what Jim the Boy is, but they have to have reasoning for it. If they want to make it Jim the Boy- the modern edition, that's fine, but it still needs to be well thought out) When the assignment is complete, they can bring in their comics and pair them up with other groups comics, and you'd be left with a type of comic book summary of Jim the Boy.(G. Finnegan)
(Although this is a direct copy of our Book Review)- Have students visit http://www.bookbrowse.com/ or amazon.com and ask them to write their own review using either forum. The assignment of using the web and posting them with other reviews makes it impossible for them to write something that isn't their own words because the reviews are right there. (K. Moran)
2) I think Jim the Boy offers many passages that students could get to know more closely via PhotoStory. I personally believe that "Blackbirds" on page 135 or Ma's letter to Jim's father present a lot of material that students could flesh out with both pictures, music and reading. An assignment would include the following: a) multiple characters reading dialogue (Cissy and Jim in Blackbirds)
b) Two minutes minimum
c) Must include dialogue, music or sound effects, and photos
Assessment:
Students and I would discuss what factors should constitute a rubric. I think this would help them in going over their work and not getting carried away with overwhelming their project with unnecessary effects and graphics. They would also be able to work therough a revision process with the rubric in hand. This revision of the project would also help provide an engine for close reading.Creativity would absolutely be required, but only to the point of relevance. In order for students to defend this creativity I wouuld ask for a 2 to 3 page write up of what they did and why they did it. - ((Timothy Palumbo)
FanFiction - Another way of combining technology and Jim the Boy is through via Fanfiction. The most popular site for fanfiction is fanfiction.net. Since the novel is a relatively easy read, with short chapters, students of different learning levels can participate in this interactive writing activity. During class, I would introduce the different genres that can be used when writing a fanfiction piece: Missing scenes, alternate perspective, alternate realities, etc.(the rest of the genres can be found in Unit 2 of Chris Shamburg's text). The introduction of Fanfiction, the genres, and the assignment will take the whole period, but if time is left over, they can begin their assignment during class. The assignment is to write a chapter from Jim the Boy using one of the genres of Fanfiction. This assignment will obviously use more than one class period. The students will be given an ample amount of time to complete the assignment at home. Time will be set aside at the end of class for students to conference about their writing with eachother and myself. I will set up a private Gaggle site for my students (www.gaggle.net), where students can post their writing WHILE they are still in the writing process. This site allows for students and myself to comment on each other's writing - adding suggestings and encouraging comments. When the assignment is due, their final product will be posted on our Jim the Boy site. If some students choose to do so, they can post their additions to Jim the Boy on a public Fanfiction site such as fanfiction.net for others outside the class to view. My assessment will come from the progress I see the students make to their writing on the site, their comments and suggestions to other students work, and from their final product. - Tricia Vessa